I managed to pick up the Games Workshop Citadel brushes from my local gaming store about 2 weeks ago. Got the Detail brush, Fine Detail Brush and the Small Dry Brush.
I tested it and have been using it since about 2 weeks already. The first impression was that the brush bristles were softer as compared to my Ashley nylon brush. Upon using it, the brush felt smooth and soft and the flow of the paint from the brush was smooth as well. The bristles were longer than the Ashley ones which I was using, this gave an added advantage which you wont get paint stuck easily onto the heel of the bristles after prolong usage.
The tip of the brush felt sharp and pointed always, which I like it a lot when it comes to painting the fine details of miniatures. With usage of about 2 weeks, the tip of the brush stayed sharp and pointed. If compared to the Ashley nylon ones, I think the tip of the brush would have already been blunt already.
The small dry brush is made up of 60% ox hair and 40% nylon. The feel of using it to dry brush seems ok and the dry brushed effect looked reasonable well. If comparing dry brushing, usually I use those old brush to dry brush, and sometimes you have extra bristles sticking of the line and the dry brushed effect can be messy. Because the Citadel dry brush bristles is sort of tapered in a way, the bristles are all in line, and dry brushing feels neat though.
As to taking care of the brushes, like I mention before, I am not so much of the kind of person that would be taking care of the brushes religiously. Usually after a painting session, I would just wash the brush in the wash pot and leave it on the paper towels to dry. For this Citadel brushes, I put a little extra effort, after each painting session, I just simply run the brushes under the tap for a while.
For 2 weeks, I only managed to wash the brushes with soap like about 2 times only. Oh ya, I did not use soap though, I use Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Hair shampoo to wash the brush. Those bristles are made from real hair, guess with these conditioner shampoo, it would be added proteins to taking care of the bristles… haha, right? So far so good, the bristles are still sharp and pointed, and good to paint!
After the good feel of using the Citadel brushes, I did a comparsion in pricing for the brushes. I pay about S$3.95 for the Ashley brushes which I normally used. Comparing the Citadel Detail Brush, the brush cost me about S$6 at my local store, if order from online store, each Citadel Brush would be about S$5.50. The difference would be about S$1.50 plus or so. I figured that with extra of S$1.50 I am getting a Kolinsky Sable Bristles, why not, right? Of course if comparing to the higher grade of Kolinsky Sable bristles from Winsor & Newton, then its a different story.
For now, this pricing is reasonable is to me, so, now I stock up Citadel brushes, and life goes on painting with Kolinsky Sable Bristles… Cheers!
FOR MY BRUSHES! PAINT!
2 Responses
The GW brushes aren’t bad if in a pinch, and they’re definitely better than some cheap nylon brush from a craft store, but cost-wise you’re better off with an Army Painter brush that costs less and has the same availability usually at the local FLGS level.
Also if shopping online in the $6 range there’s so many superior options like Winsor & Newton’s Artist’s Water Color Sable, or a Rosemary or Da Vinci kolinsky Sable brush.
The GW ones are over priced for what they are overall. The retail on most of those is $6-$8 too, which is out there.
Thanks for the suggestion. The $6 range is in Singapore Dollar I mention in the post. Ordering online I am also taking consideration the shipping cost. For now, I getting the GW ones from one of the free shipping online stores. Meantime, let me explore other sites and brands. Do let me know if you know any sites with worldwide free shipping. Thanks… Cheers!
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